Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday exuded confidence of the party’s a clean sweep in the state, including the Malwa region.

Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh after casting his vote in Patiala on Saturday.(Bharat Bhushan/HT)

Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday exuded confidence of the party’s a clean sweep in the state, including the Malwa region.

Dubbing assembly polls as a vote for stability versus communalism and radicalism, Amarinder said the Congress would win nearly 70 seats to form the next government in Punjab.

After casting his vote with wife Preneet Kaur and other family members in Patiala, Amarinder said the Congress would sweep the Majha and Doaba regions and will also emerge as a winner in the Malwa region, which poll pundits had been propping up as an AAP stronghold.

Dismissing AAP chances of forming a government, Amarinder said: “According to the feedback I have got, it seems that the hype about the AAP was created by the media. The notion that the AAP was strong in the Malwa region proved wrong. It was like a bubble which burst as voting started in the morning. People voted for the Congress in a large number. AAP is nowhere to form the government. The AAP presence was only on social media, not on the ground. People voted keeping in mind a stable government.”

AAP’s euphoric entry into Punjab during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections was the result of the hype over its agitation in Delhi, which had found resonance in Punjab’s frustrated youth, said Amarinder, adding the hype had since faded and the party lost its appeal completely.

All pre-elections polls would prove wrong, said the former CM, claiming he is sure of winning the Lambi seat as well as Congressmen have mobilised huge supports against the Badals.

Terming the elections a vote for peace, communal harmony and stability, he said people of Punjab wanted the experience and expertise of the Congress to get the state back on the rails of progress and development. The people have voted for stability versus communal and radical politics, he added.

The Congress leader dismissed any threat from the Shiromani Akali (SAD), “which had ripped apart the state’s social, religious and economic fibre in the past 10 years, and the Aam Admi Party (AAP), whose popularity graph had shown a drastic decline in the past two-three years with the exposure of their misdeeds and failures”.

People have voted for securing the future of their children, he said, adding that the Punjab stood at the brink of positive change, which the Congress would provide.